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Abstract: Although the amplitude of recent climate variations has been much smaller than during the last ice age, they had a large impact on society recorded since medieval times. Those variations are characterized by long term changes in sub-annual variability, involving alterations of the seasonal cycle or the frequency of extreme events. Since instrumental records are inexistent before the mid-17th century, proxy records based on biological, geochemical or historical information have been necessary to reconstruct the climate fluctuations of the last millennium. This paper focuses on proxy records of the climate since the Little Ice Age and their relation with the atmospheric circulation over Western Europe. To cite this article: P. Yiou, V. Masson-Delmotte, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]